Bob Hodge: Sandhill crane discussions should be interesting

The Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission comes to Knoxville on Thursday and Friday and it will set the waterfowl seasons, preview fishing proclamations and announce the winners of the drawings for this year’s elk hunt.

And there’s also going to be that stuff about sandhill crane hunting in Tennessee.

In the past, TFWC has had a hard time getting a big crowd to show up at its meetings. Hunters and fishermen often take a pass on attending because most of the items the commissioners vote on are fairly routine.

Nothing is expected to be routine when everybody from hunters to bird watchers gather at the Holiday Inn at Cedar Bluff. Thursday’s meeting, which will feature most of the discussion about hunting sandhills, will begin at 1 p.m. Friday’s meeting, when the voting takes place, starts at 9 a.m.

Regardless of how the voting goes one thing is fairly certain: This is likely to be the last time sandhill crane hunting is an issue in Tennessee for a long time.

If the commission votes for the hunts, they’ll likely be a reality in Tennessee for as long as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service gives the green light. If the commission waffles and votes no, or even votes for another two-year delay like what happened before, it probably means the state’s hunters are never going to legally shoot sandhills.

A note I received this week — it was hard to tell if the sender was for or against hunting sandhills — pointed out that opponents of a sandhill season picked up a couple of celebrity sympathizers.

Former President Jimmy Carter and world-famous chimpanzee researcher Dr. Jane Goodall both have come out publicly against Tennessee legalizing hunting of sandhill cranes.

In a letter to the TFWC, Carter defended hunting, but said shooting at sandhills as they fly through Tennessee could lead to the accidental shooting of an endangered whooping crane.

“I am an avid hunter of quail, dove, turkey, geese, ducks, and other game fowl, but have for years been a strong vocal and financial supporter of the effort to protect whooping cranes and to reestablish the flock that flies over our farm in southwestern Georgia — and also over parts of Tennessee,” wrote Carter. “I understand that your commission is contemplating opening hunting for sandhill cranes in Tennessee, and it is obvious that this will make it highly likely that whooping cranes might also be killed.”

What the former president is missing is if hunting sandhills was going to have a negative impact on whooping cranes it would have already done so. For those with a short attention span: Hunting sandhills in the U.S. has been going on for decades.

Goodall didn’t lay out any hunting bona fides in her comment because she’s strictly on the anti end of the spectrum whether its sandhills or mallards or anything else that walks, flies or crawls. The former president of Advocates for Animals sees hunting sandhills as morally troubling.

“For many, cranes are symbols of peace, a message they carry around the world,” Goodall said. “The idea that these birds could be hunted for sport is distressing to me, and would be too many others. It is clear that the sandhills foraging and roosting in freedom during their stay in Tennessee, attracting visitors to view them and other local species, offer a good deal more all round than if hunters are permitted to kill them.”

Goodall should consider herself distressed. Sandhills are already hunted in 15 other states. Tennessee is just deciding whether or not it’s going to be 16.

Other opponents to Tennessee having a sandhill crane season include the Sierra Club — whose motto should be “Everything we don’t like we want to make you stop doing” — and the National Audubon Society.

“We believe that, like many conservation success stories, the sandhill crane population is a public wildlife resource that is healthy and large enough to be enjoyed by many users,” said TWF CEO Mike Butler. “Federal, state, and private biologists have said as much by allowing for this season to be established and supported by sound science. What we cannot and will not accept is a spirit of intolerance which seeks to ignore this science and limits the uses of this public resource to one special interest group.”

It should be an interesting meeting.

Hunter Safety: First Baptist Concord will host a hunter safety class Aug. 26, 27, 29 and 30 at the church. Registration will be Aug. 26 at 5:30 at the church. Classes will meet 6-9 p.m. each day.

Participants who pass the class will be able to legally hunt Sept. 1, when dove season opens.